Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

This conversation is moderated according to USA TODAY's
community rules.
Please read the rules before joining the discussion.

OPINION

Suffrage monument to be unveiled in Nashville

Paula F. Casey
Published 2:03 p.m. CT Aug. 25, 2016

CLOSE

President Barack Obama designated a historic home of the U.S. women's suffrage movement as a national monument. He said he looks forward to a time when girls are "astonished" that a female had never occupied the Oval Office. (April 12)
AP

Event will take place on Women's Equality Day on Friday, Aug. 26.

Tennessee was the last state of the then 48 states that could possibly ratify the 19th Amendment which granted all American women the right to vote in 1920. Editorial cartoonists called the state “The Perfect 36” since three-quarters of the states were necessary for ratification.

After Gov. A.H. Roberts signed and sent Tennessee’s ratification papers to Washington, D.C., Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby issued his proclamation on Aug. 26, which became known as “Women’s Equality Day.” Votes for women became the law of the land.

Now, 96 years later, a monument to the suffragists’ victory, commissioned by Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument, Inc., is being unveiled in Nashville’s Centennial Park on Friday, beginning at 11 a.m. There is nothing outside the state capitol building that depicts this historic event. By having this monument in Centennial Park, which has a historic connection to the suffrage movement, it will be seen by thousands of visitors.

This privately funded $900,000 monument is sculpted by renowned Nashville artist Alan LeQuire, who created the 19th Amendment bas relief sculpture that hangs inside the Tennessee State Capitol and Athena Parthenos inside The Parthenon at Centennial Park.

It features five women who were actually in Nashville during the final ratification effort: Anne Dallas Dudley of Nashville; Frankie Pierce of Nashville; Sue Shelton White of Jackson; Abby Crawford Milton of Chattanooga, and Carrie Chapman Catt, the national suffrage leader who came to Nashville during the summer of 1920 to direct the pro-suffrage forces and stayed at the Hermitage Hotel.

We will also honor three women who are significant in Tennessee’s political history: the late Rep. Lois DeBerry, the first woman to serve as speaker pro tempore and the longest serving member of the state House at the time of her death in 2013; the late Hon. Jane G. Eskind, the first woman to win statewide office in 1980, which was 60 years after ratification of the 19th Amendment; and Rep. Beth Halteman Harwell, the first woman to be elected speaker of the state House.

Buy Photo

Artist Alan LeQuire carved a smaller version of the women's suffrage monument before starting the large sculpture.(Photo: File / John Partipilo / The Tennessean)

Their political careers were made possible by the suffragists’ victory. We wanted to honor their public service now so it won’t take another 96 years.

Our statewide volunteer board has worked for nearly six years and overcome a lot of obstacles to make this happen. What we had to go through pales in comparison to the struggle the suffragists went through to win the right to vote for us.

We are grateful for the support of former Mayor Karl Dean and current Mayor Megan Barry, who enthusiastically supported placing the monument in Centennial Park. They understand the importance of public art and preserving this history, especially since there is a dearth of statuary featuring women.